Martinsville Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. — Cole Custer enters the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway with a shot of going back-to-back. A bit lost in the shuffle is not only doing so to close out his Xfinity Series career, but to end an opportune chapter at Stewart-Haas Racing at the absolute top before the team closes up shop at weekend’s end. Custer will be moving back to Cup with the Haas Factory Team in 2025 and having the chance to close out his tenure at SHRRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Another night of tempers flaring at Martinsville Speedway featuring one driver’s bid of advancing into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 evaporates. Last night, it was a verbal confrontation between Taylor Gray and race winner Christian Eckes. Fast forward to Saturday night, it was a verbal confrontation with an attempted punch from Chandler Smith to Cole Custer after the National Debt Relief 250 concluded. Without a NASCAR ride in 2025, Chandler’s mission was simple — win and advance for a shot at a Xfinity Series championshipRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Denny Hamlin’s bid of capturing that elusive Bill France Cup Trophy in 2024 has reached a massive roadblock at Martinsville Speedway. During Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice leading up to qualifying for Sunday’s Xfinity 500, a puff of smoke on the left front of Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota as he entered Turn 3 spelled impending doom. With little time to react, his car lost control and slid into the outside wall, causing major damage to the back end of his car. Hamlin, who was thirdRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Short track tempers flared in Friday night’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway after Christian Eckes moved Taylor Gray out of the way to punch his ticket into the Championship 4 at Phoenix next Friday. The particular move left Gray raging in heartbreak as a race win was his only guaranteed option to fight for a championship. Coming to a restart with five laps remaining, race leader Eckes chose the bottom while Gray chose the outside line to be alongside him. Once theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The combination of Chase Elliott and Martinsville Speedway has certainly been eventful. Maybe a bit of an understatement considering the luck he’s had in Virginia, highlighted with last fall’s wild comeback win. Eventful wasn’t the word during Sunday’s Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500. The defending Cup Series champion finished second after passing Denny Hamlin late in the going, equaling his best result this season. However, if you ask him how his 500-lap race went, he bluntly said it was uneventful. Compared to the luck Elliott hasRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR drama personified as Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway sure got people fired up in more ways than one. While Chase Elliott took the checkered flag and punched his ticket to the Championship 4, there was a lot of frustrated drivers because a shot at a championship were officially dashed. Four in particular had their dreams crushed like my Seattle Mariners do every year were Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., and Kevin Harvick. Yes indeed, the biggest shock of the season wasRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The front running Martin Truex, Jr. fans come to know of returned in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, winning the first two stages and scored a race-high 54 points, but wound up third for his first top-five all season. Truex led six times for 59 of 325 laps to get his first two playoff points and the first couple for crew chief James Small. Over the radio, the No. 19 Auto Owners Insurance Toyota Camry squad were satisfied of getting stageRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Larson may be sitting seventh in points and 24 markers behind the cutoff line, but a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway was solid enough to leave happy. In a race that was completely dominated by Martin Truex, Jr., who led a modern era high 464 of 500 laps, Larson was one of only two drivers (Denny Hamlin) who led laps. This was all thanks to his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing squad keeping him out of pit road in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Martinsville Speedway was certainly a track Chase Elliott would like to steer clear after a disastrous First Data 500 weekend, capping off with a 36th place finish during Sunday’s race. After a blown engine which saw Elliott’s No. 9 Mountain Dew Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 engulfed into flames Saturday morning, he had to give up his starting slot because he went to the backup car. Elliott would qualify second but before the green flag dropped in Virginia, he had to work his way from the rear ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Drivers in the Round of 6 endured an accurate depiction of a “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” in Saturday’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 at Martinsville Speedway. Just about everyone who are competing for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship either dealt with truck issues or involved in a series of cautions that ended their race. Only two out of the six finished inside the top-10 while the other four were outside the top-20. Earlier in the race, it was all calm forRead More